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Consultant Gavriella Semaya
I genuinely believe I would not have been admitted without the help of Gavriella. I began the MBA process incredibly naïve and completely overwhelmed.
I initially enlisted Gavriella's help for a two-school package. However, the immediate value and impact of her services convinced me to expand my package to include a third school. I only wish I could have used her help for all my applications!
She is equal parts teacher, strategist, therapist, and friend. She dove headfirst into my chaotic mess of a story, helping turn it into a coherent narrative that accurately depicted me and my experiences. Understanding who I am also allowed her to guide me to apply to programs aligned with my interest and post MBA goals that I had failed to consider.
From there, she proved instrumental in assisting me in articulating my story logically, thoughtfully, and compellingly. When interviews came, I was extremely nervous. The preparation she helped me with gave me confidence and empowered me.
If that wasn't enough, she genuinely cared about me and my outcome. I distinctly remember email exchanges with her anxiously waiting for decisions alongside me. She celebrated my admittances AND helped me through rejections.
I cannot speak more highly of Gavriella.
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Consultant Cat Ho
Cat was great!
Cat always made herself available on short notice to discuss my essays, and was willing to speak with me for extended periods of time regarding my career goals. As someone who didn't have a very clear idea of what he wanted to do after business school, Cat coached me through my options and worked with me to create a compelling narrative. She was also knowledgable about the difference between programs.
I would recommend Cat to anyone, but particularly anyone targeting the Lauder program at Wharton. She had deep insights of the program's various offerings and culture that allowed me to really tailor my profile to fit what Lauder/Wharton were looking for.
I got into my Wharton/Lauder, my top choice, and wouldn't have been able to without Cat's guidance. Thanks Cat!
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Consultant Nisha Trivedi
I would recommend Nisha to anyone applying to business school! I worked with her on a 2-school package. Initially, I was incredibly overwhelmed and intimidated by the application process. However, Nisha's calm and friendly demeanor eliminated much of the stress. She was very responsive, always willing to jump on a call and listen. Nisha was also very organized, helping me to stay on track and prioritize particular aspects of my applications.
Nisha asked curious and intelligent questions that helped me articulate my experience and goals in a thoughtful way. Most importantly, she really listened to my questions and concerns. She supported me every step of the way. When I was accepted to my top school, Nisha was the first person I wanted to tell!
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Consultant Katharine Lewis
I was an international applicant, with a very non-traditional background. I applied with Katy to 5 schools (HSW, MIT, Booth). As I had no previous MBA connections, Katy was instrumental in improving my understanding how to navigate the world of MBA admissions. We did a lot of brainstorming in advance and defined the strategy of the essays. She was able to work with tough deadlines and always managed to deliver the updates. 2020/21 admission cycle was tough for internationals in the US, so I applied to INSEAD on my own and was admitted. I wasn't admitted to 5 US schools with Katy but I used materials for my INSEAD application. In addition, Katy provided a mock interview for INSEAD. In general, I highly recommend Katy as a consultant.
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Consultant Krista Nannery
Going into the application process, I was a bit intimidated that I didn’t fit the ‘traditional’ applicant profile, but from the first time I met with Krista, she helped to dismiss these doubts and I was confident she was the perfect partner to help me navigate this process. I connected with Krista’s warmth and kind demeanor, but also appreciated her firmness at times to push me towards optimal success. She specifically encouraged me to stay diligent in my efforts to raise my GRE score until I was able to achieve a score I needed and we felt confident in, which I believe ultimately played a role in my success.
Krista has a productive partnership style – she is very responsive and instructive over e-mail and uses video meetings when necessary. I left each meeting with Krista clear on my next steps and she made it easy to follow a timeline that felt realistic, but ensured we were going to hit our key deadlines. Her feedback style was constructive, yet encouraging and she always explained her thoughts and was open to talking them through so that I felt comfortable with the direction we were proceeding in.
I greatly appreciated Krista’s breadth of knowledge on each of the schools I was applying to and that she was able to guide me on how to best tailor my story for each school specifically. With my resume, she greatly helped me re-shape it to highlight my industry expertise and encouraged me to weaponize anything that made me unique. She made me feel confident in my story and candidacy and was diligent in going through drafts of essays to ensure they were where they needed to be at submission time.
In Krista you get so much more than a consultant – you get a mentor who is genuinely invested in this process with you. More than anything, I am grateful for Krista’s patience, encouragement, the confidence she instilled in me, and the areas she pushed me to improve. Krista commitment to her clients is further expressed in the excitement and happiness she feels when they succeed. Having achieved great results with acceptances to three schools, including my top choice in Wharton, I would strongly recommend Krista to anyone who is embarking on this admissions journey.
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Consultant Gavriella Semaya
I’ve applied for a few T20 business schools’ MBA program in Round 2 for 2023 admission, and I have been admitted to my top choice school with scholarship offer that is way more than I could ever dream of.
My experience of working with Gavriella has been amazing beginning to end. As an older applicant (mid 30’s) with none-traditional background, I had a lot of doubt about myself when I started the MBA journey. Gavriella did a great job to be there for me and to build my confidence. She was very caring and passionate -- a very good listener and a genuine friend who made me feel comfortable to share my stories and put trust in her. I felt so lucky to have her during the whole process.
The best part of my experience with Gavriella is that, instead of trying to fit in any typical category or image, she worked with me to create a unique strategy to present my true self. She guided me to look back into my life/work experience, to reflect and to find connection between my past and future goals.
She was always approachable, answered my inquires right away and more than often gave back more than I could’ve asked. Whether it was with essay drafting, recommendations, school networking, interview prep or actions after submission, she always thought ahead and offered me insight to guide me through the key turning points in the application timeline.
My result is beyond what I have expected, and I am extremely grateful for Gavriella’s generous assistance.
Also a shoutout to resources mbaMission provided to me, including brainstorm framework, recommendation and interviews tips, etc. Big help, not only saved me time but helped me to best prepare myself!!
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Consultant Krista Nannery
I have been thinking about getting an MBA for a while because as a project manager, I thought my projects would be more successful if my company had strong organizational support, but I do not know how to build a strong and effective organization. After talking with an alumnus from my Master’s program, he strongly recommended Krista to help me with my applications.
Krista helped me position myself and picked the best school combination for me. Before talking with her, MIT was the only school on my list. After reviewing my profile (international female with 10 years of experience in manufacturing and an engineering background), Krista suggested adding Fuqua and Tepper. Because of my undergraduate GPA (3.0), Krista suggested I take a class, Math for Management through UC Berkley online, to strength my profile. I got an A, a great improvement for my understanding of math and also good for my applications.
Krista helped me improve my resume tremendously. The final version is the 7th revision. After sending Krista my brainstorming document, we started the back-and-forth exercise to keep modifying and improving my resume. Her smart questions made me dig deeper. For example, for my project manager role, I only mentioned “led project team”, but Krista asked me things like “How many people did you manage and what did they do?”, “Do you know the male/female ratio in the company? How many project managers are there? “, “How many people did you manage?”, and “What about international work?” Because I am working in a male-dominated industry, I am the only female project manager in the company. But before Krista asked me these questions, I did not notice how unique I was and how impressive my job was!
My hobbies? First time, I simply put running. Then Krista replied ‘I think you probably have more hobbies than what you listed! Think about this and add more! Ok, I sat back and told myself, “Yes, I like watercolor painting, practicing piano, doing home crafts.”
There were times I hoped Krista would take a nap and not reply to my email so quickly, so I can get a little bit of time to relax. She was the one on top of everything and I knew as long as I followed her pace and suggestions, she would guide me to my dream school.
Krista also helped me pick the best people to write recommendations for me. At the beginning, I planned to get recommendation letters from my previous boss and a staff member from my Master’s program as I was hoping to keep my application quiet, so my job will not be jeopardized. After talking with Krista, she pointed me to the right direction: I should pick up someone from my current employer because I am applying for an MBA – Admissions is looking for candidates with strong business skills and potential, not volunteer experience. I took Krista’s suggestion and had a very candid conversation with one of my employer’s vice presidents. Surprisingly, he did not hesitate to support me and was excited to write me the recommendation letter. The resulting letter was really strong. Krista mentioned she loved the letter as the VP provided detailed information about his working experience with me and the strength of my candidacy.
Krista also stuck with me through all the ups and downs. It has been a long time since Krista and I we worked together, from September 2020 until May 2021. For sure, Krista went far beyond her responsibility. Krista was always at my side. When I got the MIT interview invitation, I shared the great news with her immediately. When I got the offer from Duke, Krista was the first one I messaged as I knew she would be as happy I as was. At a few points during my application process, I worried I could not get enrolled this year, Krista showed her empathy to me and at the same time, pushed me to improve my candidacy, take another Executive Assessment test and look for more leadership roles.
Krista set a great example to me to never give up. When I took my 2nd EA exam, I only improved 3 points and was disappointed, Krista told me every point counts and business schools like to see people keep trying. Krista is right. When the Fuqua admissions office called me, the woman told me that I did exactly what they expect a candidate to do - keep trying.
Krista and I we had a lot of fun work together and she helped me to know myself much better. One of Fuqua’s essays is ‘25 random things about yourself”. I scratched my head and was not sure where to start. Krista told me she wanted to see at least 35 random things! That is so demanding! But that was the right thing to do, because we can have a bigger pool to pick the best 25 things. Krista suggested that I search for suggestions and feedback from my friends and coworkers. It was a fun and surprising experience; I got so much feedback from the people around me. their points of views really surprised me. After the 1st draft, Krista and I started to go through each single item on my list and picked and chose the best ones to show the unique side of me.
By looking back the whole application process, the word I heard from Krista the most is “impressive”. Krista made me realize the accomplishments and feel more confident in myself. I highly recommend her as your consultant!
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Consultant Nisha Trivedi
Using MBA mission, especially Nisha Trivedi, was the best decision I could have possibly made for MBA admissions. She knew exactly the steps needed and what to expect from the entire process. I do not think I could have gotten in without her help. From brainstorming to essay writing to the interview, she kept me informed every step of the way and ensured I was as prepared as possible. She was not only knowledgeable but showed a deep interest in my success. Because of MBA mission, I got into programs far beyond what I ever expected. I am very thankful.
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Consultant Krista Nannery
I had the opportunity to work with Krista after I got rejected for all my target schools using other consulting services. After I started working with her I immediately saw the difference and felt way more confident than a year before.
Krista focused on every detail of my application, even those that I had never considered important. She also kept me track of the timeline which sometimes flybys but more importantly she also gave me a lot of feedback that sometimes other consultants try to sugarcoat but as an applicant is important to be aware of, especially in my case since I come from a usually overrepresented pool (finance). She also made a lot of suggestions that I am sure played a pivotal role in my application.
Now I can happily say that I´ll be attending my dream school (Wharton) and received two other offers from great schools. But I am sure that I would not have done it without Krista´s help. She genuinely cared about my application process and all the high and lows that it represented. I am always going to be grateful to Krista for helping me achive one of my dreams.
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Consultant Jen Kedrowski
I hesitated using an admissions consultant at first, but I don't know why I did - Jen was a godsend and worth every penny. She supported me every step of the way, got to know me well beyond my resume, and helped me craft a compelling story that maximized every word of every essay and every line of my resume. Jen is helpful, motivating, an expert in all things admissions, and is happy to answer any question about any part of the process (no matter how minor) and review all the millions of iterations of essays with great attention to detail. I couldn't have achieved the results I did without Jen's help, and she got me there way faster and way more efficiently than I would have on my own.